Full Coverage: East Africa

30.03.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar 30 (OneWorld) - U.S.-funded abstinence-only programs put millions of young Ugandans at risk of AIDS by denying them information about proven methods to protect themselves, instead offering them unproven advice to abstain from sex until they are married, a leading rights watchdog said Wednesday.

30.03.2005 At the risk of his life, Pius Ncube, Archbishop of Zimbabwe's second largest city, is calling on his countrymen to organize a popular non-violent uprising, like Ukraine's "Orange Revolution," to topple President Robert Mugabe. Similar statements from a political leader would certainly result in imprisonment, but Mugabe is hesitant to take on the church, reports veteran Zimbabwe correspondent Trevor Grundy.

30.03.2005 Obviously elections are not just about what takes place on the day, or two days, on which polling takes place. An election is a process that occurs within a political context. This report describes the electoral environment in Zimbabwe ahead of the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for March 31, 2005.

30.03.2005 Over the next few days please log onto Kubatana to see photographs of the Zimbabwe General Election 2005 as well as election results and breaking news. Please make sure to check the Elections sector under the Archive for a very comprehensive selection of opinion and articles on the Parliamentary Election.

30.03.2005 The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) has condemned in the strongest terms the deliberate jamming of SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, saying its an assault on freedom of expression.

29.03.2005 President Robert Mugabe has pulled out all the stops before elections in Zimbabwe Thursday, spending US$100 million of the state's money on Hewlett Packard laptops that he passes out at schools as he campaigns across the country. Meanwhile, many of the schools receiving the high-tech computers have been without textbooks, electricity, furniture or even roofs for many years.

25.03.2005 Democratic elections are supposed to be an opportunity for a nation to reflect and choose, but Zimbabwe's votes have been little more than an exercise in muscle flexing by Robert Mugabe's ruling party, says human rights activist Mary Ndlovu, exploring various possible scenarios for next Thursday's crucial poll. Whatever occurs in Zimbabwe in the next few weeks, there is a long road ahead for the building of democracy in Southern Africa, she says.

24.03.2005 Yet another country is permitting the reaction to terrorism to spill over into abuse of the human rights of its citizens. Amnesty accuses Kenya of treating the war against terror a a "license to torture".

23.03.2005 Zimbabwe's Media Monitoring Project (MMPZ) has described the alleged jamming of a London-based anti-government radio station, as the "latest deliberate assault on freedom of expression".

22.03.2005 Grassroots International's Eritrea program launched in 1983, during the country's remarkable liberation struggle against better funded and better equipped Ethiopia. But Eritrea failed to remain true to the values and ideals it embraced during that struggle, and the deteriorating economic, social and political situation in the country has left Grassroots no choice but to withdraw its support, the group has said.

20.03.2005 In extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) by 6 months, the UN Security Council has expressed disappointment that both sides are not more actively cooperating with the boundary commission and with peace efforts.

20.03.2005 Prospects for child mortality in Eritrea have improved thanks to the large scale distribution of bednets by the government. The malaria rate has fallen dramatically, more so than elsewhere in Africa.

18.03.2005 Civil society groups and citizens from Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia participated in a unique demonstration of regional solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe on 12 March 2005.

18.03.2005 President Robert Mugabe has secretly approached UN officials for help formulating a major appeal for food assistance to be launched as soon as the results of the March 31 election are declared. The president has, in the past, rebuffed international offers of assistance despite warnings that nearly half the population urgently require food aid or they could starve.

18.03.2005 On the face of it, the new broadcasting regulations issued last month in Zimbabwe were groundbreaking. For the first time in the history of Zimbabwean elections, the opposition would be legally allocated time on state-owned radio and television in the run-up to a parliamentary poll, scheduled for Mar. 31.

17.03.2005 At least 16 children were brutally slaughtered on Monday in a Kenyan town in the arid Mandera district when one rival Somali clan attacked another. Although the Somali factions have long feuded over water rights, UNICEF reports that children seemed to be the target of this latest assault, which was carried out at dawn while the children slept and the men were out guarding the livestock.

16.03.2005 Food and water shortages caused by four consecutive years of drought, aggravated by the indecision of the donor community, leaves the Eritrean people in a precarious condition. There are reports of malnutrition from all regions of the country.

16.03.2005 Amnesty International's report to be presented to election monitors in Zimbabwe is unequivocal in its assessment that citizens will be unable to participate in a free and fair democratic process.

11.03.2005 Two of Kenya's prominent ethnic groups--the Maasai and the Kikuyu--continue to battle over use of water from the Ewaso Kedong River. At least 14 have been killed and hundreds forced to flee since the fighting began in late January.

10.03.2005 Uganda is a favourite with international donors and politicians. In an outspoken attack in London yesterday, the retiring head of Unicef says that it’s time to take a fresh look at the country’s failure to resolve the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda.